BROMLEY: Nursery plans opposed over fears of noise, traffic and paedophiles (From News Shopper)
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BROMLEY: Nursery plans opposed over fears of noise, traffic and paedophiles
9:00am Sunday 31st October 2010 in News By Michael Purton
Pickhurst Park residents are opposing the application
ANGRY residents are campaigning against a house being turned into a nursery because they fear it will increase noise and traffic and could attract paedophiles.
Sunnyfields Day Nurseries Ltd has applied to Bromley Council for permission to turn residential house number 5 Pickhurst Park in Bromley into a nursery for up to 52 children.
Around 30 people living nearby have written to the council and more than 140 have signed a petition to oppose the application by Sunnyfields, which already runs two nurseries in the borough.
Mum-of-two Natalie Rooney, aged 30, said: “We think there will be traffic problems because of all the parents dropping off and picking up their children.
“We think there will be noise problems because the children will be playing outdoors. We are also worried that paedophiles will be attracted to the area to be close to the nursery.”
Shariff and Hussaina Syed, aged 69 and 61, live next door to number 5, and they fear paedophiles could move into the flats overlooking the property to be close to the children.
Mrs Syed, 61, said: “There are flats overlooking and people could move in there and watch the children. It is a possibility it could happen.”
Pickhurst Park residents were scheduled to meet a council planning officer on Friday morning to discuss their concerns, but the meeting had to be cancelled due to the officer being ill.
They have drawn up a list of objections to the application, including 14 concerns about the effect the nursery will have on traffic and parking.
They say: “The suggested four visitor parking spaces is not sufficient to cope, especially during the peak times of 7.30am to 9.30am and 4.30pm to 6.30pm.
“And visitors to the nursery will tend to ignore any parking facilities and park across residents’ driveways.”
They added: “Given the above points, this will cause the road to be gridlocked at peak times.”
They also complain that noise levels will be “greatly increased” due to the sound of cars during peak times and the children playing in the outside area.
There is no need for a new nursery in the area, they say, as their research has shown there are vacancies at two nearby nurseries.
One of the protestors, 43-year-old Alan Hodge, said: “We are worried some parents will drop their children off and then park in the road to commute into London for work.”
He added: “It’s not so much that we are objecting to a nursery in this area, we just think our road is the wrong site because it is too small.”
The council’s planning committee is expected to make a decision on the application next month.
Nobody from Sunnyfields was available to comment.
Comments(28)
shazza678
says...
4:46pm Sun 31 Oct 10
Lifelands
says...
9:36pm Sun 31 Oct 10
Shaza678, living near to schools for much of your life obviously didn't rub off, judging by your grammar in your post.
GeoffR
says...
9:58am Mon 1 Nov 10
Lifelands wrote:You say "Lets be sensible about this" and then you belittle and argue with someone on the VERY NEXT LINE about their grammer instead of the subject at hand. Very Sensible!
Two weeks ago a fire engine tried to turn into Pickhurst Park and it couldn't - caused by the amount of traffic parked at the junction with Westmoreland Road. The proposed nursery is right near this junction. The problem will only be exacerbated by the extra traffice generated and people trying to do U turns after they have dropped their kids off. Lets be sensible about this.
Shaza678, living near to schools for much of your life obviously didn't rub off, judging by your grammar in your post.
Also, on the previous article Natilie commented that it was a single off the cuff that she made about paedophiles to the journalist. But now Shariff and Hussaina Syed are also making the same comment. You're story is unravelling.
Most parents will be dropping off and picking up kids for less that 5mins each time. So about 10 mins worth in a 24 hour day. Hardly worth worying about.
Stop moaning, Stop being NIMBYs, and enjoy your lives.
porkpie
says...
12:40pm Mon 1 Nov 10
Marty1979
says...
12:47pm Mon 1 Nov 10
shazza678 wrote:"The noise of children playing is a pleasure."
How stupid are these neighbours. As a child i lived oppisite a primary school as a child and now my house backs on to a senior school. The noise of children playing is a pleasure. As for paedophiles in all my 51 years i have never heard of one being outside the schools i have lived by. They would soon complain if parents of nursery children lived of the state the children at this school will be paid for by there parent who work hard to pay the fees and nursery places are short in Bromley area. As for the parking Parents are only parked for a few mins a day so does not effect me
Be careful what you say or you could be branded a paedophile!
Duckorange
says...
1:39pm Mon 1 Nov 10
Get a grip.
Slonik
says...
3:42pm Mon 1 Nov 10
Perhaps we could establish remote, secure communities for our young children, staffed entirely by robots and allowing no contact with real people whatsoever until they reach adulthood. Let's face it, they'd be protected from all those awful sexual predators out there in the real world and wouldn't generate any noise, traffic or car parking problems for the poor old neighbours either....
Seriously, what a pathetic argument to put forward in opposition to a planning application for a small nursery.
These residents ought to be ashamed of themselves!
shazza678
says...
4:40pm Mon 1 Nov 10
How stupid are these neighbours. As a child I lived opposite a primary school as a child and now my house backs on to a senior school. The noise of children playing is a pleasure. As for paedophiles in all my 51 years I have never heard of one being outside the schools I have lived by. They would soon complain if parents of nursery children lived of the state the children at this school will be paid for by there parent who work hard to pay the fees and nursery places are short in Bromley area. As for the parking Parents are only parked for a few mins a day so does not affect me.
reasonable75
says...
5:40pm Mon 1 Nov 10
Lifelands wrote:Surely if there is a problem with parked cars then that should be highlighted as a specific issue and I'm sure if it is bad enough to obstruct emergency vehicles then the police would take action (presumably the vehicles must have been illegally parked)
Two weeks ago a fire engine tried to turn into Pickhurst Park and it couldn't - caused by the amount of traffic parked at the junction with Westmoreland Road. The proposed nursery is right near this junction. The problem will only be exacerbated by the extra traffice generated and people trying to do U turns after they have dropped their kids off. Lets be sensible about this. Shaza678, living near to schools for much of your life obviously didn't rub off, judging by your grammar in your post.
Why try to use the "paedophiles" argument?
ROSEBUSH
says...
8:15pm Mon 1 Nov 10
GeoffR
says...
10:36am Tue 2 Nov 10
ROSEBUSH wrote:Trouble is owning a property does not give you absolute rights over what happens around you.
Granted the risk about paedo's is rather OTT, but as a home owner if I had any new business being set up next door, whether it was a nursery, shop, doctors or whatever, I think I would be naturally concerned, and I think so would most people as these things are likely to affect house prices. I knew a friend who bought a house (cheap) next to a small business and he had such a difficult time when he sold, but the difference was it was there when he bought it.
Also, it engeneders a "me me me" culture, as opposed to the good of society, as, like you point out, people get more worried about their house price.
NOOEY
says...
5:54pm Wed 3 Nov 10
I have just seen the New Shopper front cover 'wow' what a story you have created! You have pretty much ignored our main objections and sensationalised a very 'off the cuff' comment after a very long conversation the main issue being serious traffic congestion and not some stupid story that has now been sensationalised to make us the residents look like idiots.
Thank you for jeopardising what was a 'common sense campaign'.
I don't expect you to remove this comment as you did my previous comment.
Mrs Natalie Rooney
Marty1979
says...
7:18pm Wed 3 Nov 10
ROSEBUSH
says...
7:44pm Wed 3 Nov 10
reasonable75
says...
8:43am Thu 4 Nov 10
Do you, or any of the other protesters, have children & do you drive them to nursery/school?
You say there are vacancies at nearby nurseries - how near?
Alan Hodge, said: “We are worried some parents will drop their children off and then park in the road to commute into London for work.” Seriously? Who would park over a mile from the nearest station to commute?
You have 140 people who signed your petition, I wonder where these people live - I have seen this before, get friends & family to sign to boost the numbers.
I would actually be more concerned about 52 children in a house!
Sorry, but this just seems to be "not in my back yard"
Make Life
says...
12:31pm Thu 4 Nov 10
Lifelands wrote:looked like you didnt do to well in school either, traffice???
Two weeks ago a fire engine tried to turn into Pickhurst Park and it couldn't - caused by the amount of traffic parked at the junction with Westmoreland Road. The proposed nursery is right near this junction. The problem will only be exacerbated by the extra traffice generated and people trying to do U turns after they have dropped their kids off. Lets be sensible about this. Shaza678, living near to schools for much of your life obviously didn't rub off, judging by your grammar in your post.
have you ever thought that the traffic there is from the people going into Tesco's? Their car park isnt that big. The traffic could also be caused by the people that live in the flats on the other corner. This road is big enough to handle cars that will be dropping off children and the cars will not be there all day, 2 minutes max. The article says that it will be up 52 children, i cant see this being anywhere near this. Even if it is, I cant see all 52 children turning up at the same time.
GeoffR
says...
4:22pm Thu 4 Nov 10
GeoffR wrote:I'm sorry Natalie - but I just don't believe you. Previously, on your deleted comment, which I saw you stated that the peado comment was made by you as an off the cuff remark. Fair enough, but as you are someone who has worked in media (you stated this previously) I would have thought you would have realised this would end up being the main hook for the story.
ROSEBUSH wrote:Trouble is owning a property does not give you absolute rights over what happens around you.
Granted the risk about paedo's is rather OTT, but as a home owner if I had any new business being set up next door, whether it was a nursery, shop, doctors or whatever, I think I would be naturally concerned, and I think so would most people as these things are likely to affect house prices. I knew a friend who bought a house (cheap) next to a small business and he had such a difficult time when he sold, but the difference was it was there when he bought it.
Also, it engeneders a "me me me" culture, as opposed to the good of society, as, like you point out, people get more worried about their house price.
BUT, and its a big BUT, Shariff and Hussaina Syed are also saying it above. So was this off the cuff as well? Or did all you little NIMBYs get together think it was a great way to protest about the Nursery to protect your precious little street, and then realise that at has blown up in your face.
I will also ask AGAIN, as nobody from your street seems to want to answer this question:
What's to special and unique about your street that needs protecting, as nurseries are on residential streets up and down the country?
And another question: Where DO YOU propose nurseries should go?
Also - how many vacancies are available? I know as a parent of two that the waiting lists Nurseries in the area can run into a few months. So there is a need for more places and more competition.
I also love the photo, with kids in - how ironic. Bet these kids go to nurseries/play groups/schools.
I don't normally get angry at news stories, but I am livid with your streets attitude and methods of complaint.
GeoffR
says...
4:39pm Thu 4 Nov 10
To me it looks like a wide, fairly straight, open street with plenty of parking spaces (incidentally, it really shows no signs of gridlock).
reasonable75
says...
5:51pm Thu 4 Nov 10
jca111
says...
8:55am Fri 5 Nov 10
headenema
says...
3:59pm Tue 9 Nov 10
They could be selling the kids space crack under the guise of nursery teachers.
Goshdarned shapeshifters!!
Wrapping our heads in tin foil and burying them in the sand is the only solution.
I blame Dave & Nick for this.
Tmcd
says...
4:01pm Tue 9 Nov 10
Tmcd
says...
4:03pm Tue 9 Nov 10
duncanborrowman
says...
10:01pm Tue 9 Nov 10
snowy36
says...
1:54pm Wed 10 Nov 10
I Hope that Michael Puton and the editor are packing their bags..
I cannot believe you actually proofed this headline....
you should be ashamed of yourselves, not only have you made yourselves look like fools but also those with a valid point about traffic and noise..
DISGUSTING!!!
you wont be getting my money again..
Marty1979
says...
3:22pm Wed 10 Nov 10
But the News Shopper is free ......
jca111
says...
12:09pm Thu 18 Nov 10
snowy36 wrote:I dont get the point about traffic.
I have never felt more embarrassed to buy this paper after seeing the disgusting attempt to gain readers with such a pathetic journalistic headline..
I Hope that Michael Puton and the editor are packing their bags..
I cannot believe you actually proofed this headline....
you should be ashamed of yourselves, not only have you made yourselves look like fools but also those with a valid point about traffic and noise..
DISGUSTING!!!
you wont be getting my money again..
At the weekend I went for a walk down this street to see what the traffic issues may be.
This has to be one of the widest and straightest residential streets in Bromley, with ample places to park.
NIMBYs the lot of you!
typecastboy says...
12:12pm Sun 31 Oct 10